Hofma Vision plan approved by Twp. Board

GRAND HAVEN TWP. — The future of the Hofma Vision project is now headed to the hands of the township’s Parks & Recreation Committee.

The Township Board adopted the Hofma Vision plan on Monday night, a move that forwards the document to the parks committee for the purpose of prioritizing the nearly $6 million worth of improvements proposed in the document.

“This 39-page document should be viewed as a visioning document, which is the first step before doing planning,” Township Manager Bill Cargo said.

Cargo noted that the plan contains many different ideas and not everything will happen at once. Some things may not happen at all, he said.

“This process is a long, long process and it’s going to go through permutations,” Cargo said. “I don’t think moving forward with this says we’re going to do this plan exactly as envisioned.”

The vision provides a plan that can be followed as both the Witteveen farm and Wolfe property sites adjacent to the township’s Hofma Park & Preserve are developed over the coming years. It was created following a set of events in June in which design experts, township officials, and residents and property owners walked both park properties and participated in community engagement sessions.

Following the community input, a combined meeting of the Township Board, Planning Commission and Parks & Recreation Committee met to view a draft version of the vision.

“I think there’s enough of a consensus so at least the Parks & Recreation Committee has enough to flesh it out,” Cargo said.

Ideas generated for the Witteveen property include hiking and biking trails, art and sculpture installations, selective tree removal, native forest and vegetation restoration, a parking area, and restroom facility. The total estimated cost for all proposed Witteveen improvements is about $970,000.

Concepts for the Wolf property include several irrigated multi-sport fields, an irrigated baseball field, pickleball courts, playground, hiking trails, wetland boardwalks, pavilion and restroom facilities, enhanced parking areas, new signage, and various landscaping enhancements. The total estimated cost for all of the identified improvements to the Wolf property is a little more than $5 million.

Cargo noted that the township will likely put emphasis on the trail work and natural areas at the Witteveen property as the first focus of the plan.